Crawfish lovers, industry in for a rough season

Sunday

Jan 27, 2008 at 12:01 AM

BRIAN FONTENOT Staff Writer

HOUMA -- For tail-pinching, head-sucking crawfish lovers, this season could be a rough one.

Demand for mudbugs is higher than itís ever been and production has been hurt statewide by abnormally dry weather in north Louisiana, low water levels in the Atchafalaya Basin and cold weather in recent weeks, experts and farmers say.

"We will have a shortage," said Stephen Minvielle, director of the Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Association.

If you do find some crawfish, the critters are likely to be small and relatively expensive compared to last year.

A spot check Friday of grocery stores and seafood markets in Houma and Thibodaux found prices ranging from $3 to $4 a pound for boiled crawfish.

Minvielle said he expects production of farm-raised crawfish to be off by as much as 40 percent or more in the parishes most affected by the lack of rain such as Acadia, Evangeline and St. Landry.

But others, those mainly in the southernmost regions of the state, have seen a reasonable amount of rain.

"The rains were about exactly like you like them," said Minvielle, who has been a crawfish farmer for seven years.

He runs a small 80-acre operation in New Iberia and drew comparisons to the drought seen in 1999 and 2000, which caused a "horrible shortage."

Minvielle said he and the other farmers who raise crawfish in ponds are still hoping for warmer weather. When the water becomes too cold, below 60 degrees, crawfish become inactive. And as a result, they donít grow as big as they would in warmer weather.

"We hope to God we catch some warm weather," he said.

But prices shouldnít go too high.

During the Sugar Bowl and BCS Championship game in New Orleans, the demand for crawfish skyrocketed, leading to a short-term boost in prices. As demand has slowed and the weather cooled, prices crawfish pond farmers are getting have dropped an average of 45 percent over the past month and a half, according to the Louisiana Crawfish Farmers Associationís board of directors.

The price pond farmers are paid per pound for crawfish dropped an average of 20 percent a little more than 40 days ago and then fell another 25 percent by Jan. 14.

"Itís a weaker harvest than it was last year, but prices are still up 50 percent from last year," said Adam Johnson, the president of Bayou Land Seafood, a seafood processor in Breaux Bridge.

"Overall, my guess is that with the expenses the way they are, the average price will be higher this year than last year," Johnson said. "Right now, they are up, but I donít see any reason for any change over the next few weeks."

But with todayís current high energy prices and general food-market competition, he expects profits to be down from last year.

"In fact, weíll probably make less," he said. "Weíll be competing with other food sources for those dollars.

Johnson, though not speaking in an official representative capacity, is a board member of the crawfish processorís lobbying group, Crawfish Processors Alliance. He also has 1,100 acres for pond farming but buys 95 percent of his stock from other farmers.

He attributed the price drops to the market readjusting to the spike in demand seen during the bowl games and more farmers beginning to harvest crawfish now that the holiday season is over.

He said at the start of the season, he saw maybe 50 sacks of crawfish come into his business a week. Now heís receiving almost 100 sacks a day.

And even though the harvest is low, farmers are catching more crawfish to bring to market quicker than in years past, relying on immigrant labor.

"A lot of people are starting to use the immigrant labor, the Mexican labor," he said.

On the other hand, with the Super Bowl and Mardi Gras around the corner, demand is expected to jump again.

"If the volume doesnít meet the demand, there will be an adjustment in price," he said. "Itís all market."

Crawfish season runs from November through the first week of July. Crawfish do not tolerate cold or heat and thrive only when temperatures are mild.

This price drop has pond farmers struggling to make ends meet, especially after they collectively lost $18 million last season where wild crawfish farmers reeled in a large harvest of crawfish from the Atchafalaya Basin.

Minvielle, himself, lost $34,000.

Minvielle said the large basin haul happens on an average of about once every seven to eight years.

Last yearís basin haul oversaturated the crawfish market, leaving some $25 million worth of crawfish in ponds, and dropped prices.

The pond farmers are also feeling the effects of higher energy prices. Minvielle said overhead for farmers in the state has gone up by as much as 30 percent.

And most farmers need to charge more than 50 cents per pound of mudbugs to cover their cost. Whereas the basin farmers donít absorb the same overhead, not needing to own land or pumps.

"These guys can go out there for 30 cents a pound and actually make a profit," Minvielle said. "They donít pump water or own land. We support our community. Not that these guys donít, but they donít spend money like we do."

Minvielle warned if crawfish farmers are forced to weather another difficult season, many may resort to abandoning crawfish and planting other crops like grain, which has seen a 300 percent increase in price.

"I already heard talk of some of them going into it," he said.

The basin farmers, however, canít provide crawfish year round during the winter months and are utterly reliant on the basinís water level. When itís low, there are no crawfish to catch.

This year, itís still low because of the draught conditions in the state and is just now beginning to show signs of a rise. But itís probably too little too late.

"Theyíre crying thereís nothing in the basin," Minvielle said. "The chance of them having any impact on us now is minimal."

But like the water in the basin, the future remains murky at best.

"Itís difficult to say what weíre going to see now over the next couple of months," said Greg Lutz, an aquaculture specialist with the LSU AgCenter.

Twenty years ago, the wild farmers, those who just go out to the bayous on boats and donít actively cultivate land for the tasty critters, produced near 70 percent to 80 percent of all the crawfish in the state.

This percentage has flip-flopped over recent years, Johnson said, with nearly 1,700 crawfish pond farms dotting the state.

Staff Writer Brian Fontenot can be reached at 857-2204 or brian.fontenot@houmatoday.com.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.